The document discusses the UN Global Compact and its objectives of encouraging companies to align their operations with principles around human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption. It notes that the 2016 Water Integrity Global Outlook is important for achieving the UN Global Compact's goals because water is vital for life and business sustainability, and building transparency, accountability and participation in the water sector leads to better governance and reduces corruption, supporting fair competition and economic growth. It argues that corruption disproportionately impacts the poor, and that accountable governance allows companies to better partner with governments to improve water management and delivery through transparent procurement and stakeholder involvement.

1. UN-Global Compact
And why the 2016 Water Integrity Global Outlook is
elementary to reaching the objectives of the UN – Global Compact
http://www.gcnetherlands.nl
www.waterpartner.org
Jeroen Kool,
The Hague, 15 April 2016

2. Objectives of the UNGC
The United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies everywhere to
align their operations and strategies with ten universally accepted principles
in the areas of human rights, labor, environment and anti-corruption, and to
take action in support of UN goals and issues embodied in the Sustainable
Development Goals.
The UN Global Compact is a leadership platform for the development,
implementation and disclosure of responsible corporate practices. Launched
in 2000, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world, with
more than 8,000 companies and 4,000 non-business signatories based in
over 170 countries, and more than 85 Local Networks.

3. UNGC Supportive Actions
To make this happen, the UN Global Compact supports companies to:
• Do business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations
with Ten Principles on human rights, labour, environment and anti-
corruption; and
• Take strategic actions to advance broader societal goals, such as the
UN Sustainable Development Goals, with an emphasis on
collaboration and innovation.

4. Human Rights Principles
• Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of
internationally proclaimed human rights; and
• Principle 2: make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses.
Complicity means being implicated in a human rights abuse that another
company, government, individual or other group is causing. The risk of
complicity in a human rights abuse may be particularly high in areas with
weak governance and/or where human rights abuse is widespread. However,
the risk of complicity exists in every sector and every country.

5. Labour
• Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and
the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining;
• Principle 4: the elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory
labour;
• Principle 5: the effective abolition of child labour; and
• Principle 6: the elimination of discrimination in respect of
employment and occupation.

6. Environment
• Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to
environmental challenges;
• Principle 8: undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental
responsibility; and
• Principle 9: encourage the development and diffusion of
environmentally friendly technologies.

7. Anti - Corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms,
including extortion and bribery.
This principle against corruption was adopted in 2004 and commits UN
Global Compact participants to avoid bribery, extortion and other forms of
corruption, and to proactively develop policies and concrete programmes to
address corruption internally and within their supply chains.
Companies are also challenged to work collectively and join civil society, the
United Nations and governments to realize a more transparent global
economy.

8. The 2016 Water Integrity Global Outlook
is elementary to reaching the UNGC objectives:
• Water is vital for life of every human being and a crucial resource for the
sustainability of the global business community
• Building of Transparency, Accountability and Participation (TAP) lead to better
performance of both the water sector and of the global business community
• A Good and reliable governance system is needed to combat corruption, improve
the rule of law, support fair competition and economic growth, and improve the
performance of the water sector
• Lack of good governance and corruption particularly hit the poor and vulnerable
people: leading to higher cost of their water services, reduced (job) opportunities
for SME’s and reduced economic growth

9. • When governments are accountable, companies can play an essential role in
public – private partnerships and finance, leading to better performance of water
management and water service delivery
• Transparent, objective and accountable tendering procedures around large-scale
water infrastructure investments lead to better price to quality ratio’s and better
projects, benefiting both companies and the water sector at large
• Involving key stakeholders and project affected people in the planning, design
and implementation of water projects lead to stronger consensus and support,
and to more successful implementation of the water projects and related
business opportunities
• Independent monitoring will improve the quality of crucial information, and will
strengthen the dialogue between governments, companies and the public where
it comes to water sector performance